"hippy" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:
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> "Hitchy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > & will we be seeing a recent track 'convert' by the name of 'Hippy'?
>
> I will most likely be there... spectating/photographing.. I
> don't think they'd let a newbie like me on the track with
> guys/gals that can actually ride fast! 
>
> I've been to the last two big track events at Vodaphone
> and they've both been great fun - I recommend everyone
> give it a look.
>
> hippy
>
>
Hippy,
Agreed, track cycling events at Vodafone Arena are great fun to watch.
I'll be there but as a competitor. I'll be the guy in the Richmond Cyclery
colours riding the white/blue FORT bike in the D grade races. I can assure
you that I am not that fast but hey, that's why handicaps and graded racing
exist. It's so that everyone slow or fast has a reasonable chance to win.
To give you an idea of how close you are to riding at one of these events
I'll tell you my story.
I started racing Crits in September 2002. I then took up track racing at
about this time last year and had my first ride on Vodafone Arena in March
2003. It was the Mens Masters (Class 2/3 combined) Victorian 10Km Scratch
Championships, my first ever proper scratch race on the track.
Prior to that my only previous racing was one Wed night at Brunswick in the
presence of some pretty elite company (ie Will and John Walker) which made
me realise how fast I really wasn't. Unfortunately on that same night I
crashed during an elimination race (my mistake and a big dose of experience
was gained). The bike escaped with just a couple of scrapes on the bars. I
ended up suffering from a broken right thumb which, for a few months, left
me unable to ride my road bike and race crits (a bit of a problem with using
the brakes). Luckily I could still ride the track bike in relative comfort
so my summer season was not completely over (You don't need or have brakes
on the track).
Anyway getting back to Vodafone Arena.
Although I was unable to hold on for the whole 10Kms I was pretty satisfied
with my ride. Most of the other riders in the race I knew raced A and B
Grade club crits and at that point in time I had only just started riding C
grade crits after moving up from D grade so I knew I was probably a little
out of my depth here. In the end I finished around 650m behind the winner
and about 100m behind the guy in front of me. But best of all, I didn't
finish last
I think the winning time was just over 12min 30seconds. The
initial speed at which the race started took me by compete surprise. The
first few laps were timed at low to mid 17s. I just could not hold this
pace and started dropping back into the 19s and low 20s.
Now I'll tell you what the best bit of the day was.
I arrived nice and early so that I could get some experience and gain some
feel for the track. Prior to this day the steepest banking I had ever
ridden was at Brunswick (Slightly steeper than Blackburn). The whole arena
was deserted except for a couple of other people out in the middle. There
was no sound as both the ventilation and sound system were switched off at
this time. I rolled out onto the track to do a couple of laps. As I did I
could hear this sound that I had never heard before. It was the sound of
the timber creaking beneath my wheels which was echoing in the silence of
the moment. The thought that went through my mind was something along the
lines of "WOW". As I gained speed the sound of the creaking timber was
replaced by the sound of the wind screaming past my ears. As I gained even
more speed I realised that the bends in the track melted away giving the
illusion that I was riding in a continuous straight line. This sensation is
definitely something to be experienced.
This year I started the track season with a winter of road training behind
me but still not a lot of racing experience. I had always wanted to do a
"Melbourne Cup on Wheels" but decided against this for this year due to lack
of handicap racing experience. I decided that the Austral would be my first
major handicap race on the track for the season. As preparation for this I
did a couple of Saturday race meets at Blackburn. I then targeted the
Bendigo and Shepparton Christmas carnivals (handicap races galore). From
doing this I was able get an idea for how to tactically go about riding this
type of race and got valuable experience. I also took part in the Vic Metro
Championships (MMAS2/3/4 combined) in all four disciplines. I was a first
timer in all but the scratch race so everything was new to me. To my
surprise I ended up with a Bronze Medal in the 2000m Pursuit. I will now be
giving the all of Vic State Titles a go and may even make the trip up to
Sydney to the Australian Masters National Titles in April. (Do you think
I'm hooked) I will also be riding in this weekends Sid Patterson Meet at
Vodafone Arena
So Hippy my advise to you is if you don't currently feel comfortable riding
a club level handicap then you are probably not quite ready to attempt a
major track event, such as the Austral etc, this year. I would recommend
you start looking at what you want to achieve next season and then look at
how you can get the experience required. At this time of year, as I
discovered last year, with Championships happening there is not a lot of
quality club racing around. The numbers turning up for club track meets are
a fraction of what they are prior to the month of February. If you are
really hungry to get a ride on Vodafone you probably have 2 opportunities.
The first is the Vic Time Trial Champs (if you are an Elite the distance is
1000m). The second is the Vic Sprint Championships (200m qualifying round
followed by match sprints if you qualify). Entries for these two close on
Monday 1st March. There is also the Vic Senior(Elite) Points Race Champs but
at the level you are currently at you are going to be way out of your depth
if you attempted this one. Time Trials and Sprint qualifying are individual
events so you are only racing against the clock. Even if you don't set the
world on fire with your times this year you can always look back and say to
yourself that you actually rode in a State Title Event on the boards of
Vodafone Arena.
Geoff
